Denny Hamlin going ‘on offense’ in pressure-packed Bristol race
BRISTOL, Tenn. (BVM) – Denny Hamlin has competed in the NASCAR Cup Series for nearly two decades and has been one of the most successful drivers in this era with 54 Cup Series wins, including three Daytona 500 victories.
However, notably missing from Hamlin’s resume is a Cup Series championship. The driver of the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota has come close several times, but he is still searching for a title to add to his Hall of Fame resume.
It looked like 2024 could be Hamlin’s year early on as he reached victory lane three times before May at Bristol, Richmond and Dover. Hamlin and his No. 11 team continued to run well throughout May, but since June, the veteran driver has endured a tough stretch.
Despite a couple of runner-up finishes at Pocono in July and Richmond in August, and a pair of top-10s at Michigan and Darlington, Hamlin has struggled as he has finished 23rd or worse in eight of his past 12 races. That includes a 24th-place finish at Atlanta to open the playoffs two weeks ago and a 23rd-place showing at Watkins Glen this past weekend where he was involved in a pair of wrecks.
CHAOS ON THE OPENING LAP!
RYAN BLANEY, DENNY HAMLIN, CHRISTOPHER BELL AND MORE INVOLVED!
📺 : USA Network pic.twitter.com/Wh5ceei2hR
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) September 15, 2024
DENNY HAMLIN CRASHES IN THE ESSES!
Three #NASCARPlayoffs drivers run out of room. pic.twitter.com/uFQc8vn5Zc
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) September 15, 2024
“It’s so frustrating,” Hamlin said earlier this week on an episode of his podcast, “Actions Detrimental.” “This is three out of the last four events that I’ve crashed out and had nothing to do with it … What can you do? This is racing. It’s part of it, but certainly it’s discouraging to not get a chance to race.
“As I’m pulling out of the dust, I’m thinking, ‘Well, I don’t know why I’m surprised and now I just got to go win Bristol.’ You never know what can happen during the course of the race. But I was thinking throughout that weekend, let’s get the best capable finish that I can on the day and I’ll still give myself a really good chance of going there and performing well at Bristol and getting in.”
Hamlin’s sluggish start in the postseason has surprised many, including former Cup Series driver and current Fox Sports analyst Kevin Harvick who believes Hamlin and his team lost a lot of momentum with their strategy at Atlanta.
Denny Hamlin on his strategy to avoid wrecks that worked for all but the final lap Sunday at Atlanta: pic.twitter.com/2P83qP6HPS
— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) September 8, 2024
“When you look back at just the driver strategy to go out at Atlanta and just try to race for 20 points, and then everything that’s happened, all the drama, it’s just derailed the 11 car off the tracks,” Harvick said on a recent episode of his podcast, “Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour.” “I think they can go to Bristol and put it back on the track and they can go there and win, but what a dismal way to start the first two races of the playoffs.
“We’ve seen some uncharacteristic things. I look at Denny Hamlin as a leader and a guy who is going to go out and be aggressive and always try to win … Momentum is a real thing in our sport, it really is.”
The lack of postseason success has Hamlin on the outside looking in when it comes to making the Round of 12, as he sits 13th in the Cup Series standings with 2,043 points, just six shy of the 12th spot occupied by JGR teammate Ty Gibbs.
While the recent results are concerning, there might not be a better track for Hamlin to go to with his season on the line as NASCAR heads to Bristol this weekend, a track Hamlin has won at four times in his career, including earlier this season and last fall.
“Obviously we’re going to a track that we know how to perform,” Hamlin said following this past weekend’s race at Watkins Glen. “It’s not over yet.
“I feel like we can go there and win. We feel like we control our destiny there.”
Overall, Hamlin has finished outside of the top 20 just once at the Tennessee track since 2015 and has 19 top-10 finishes while finishing in the top five 12 times during his Cup Series career.
Hamlin’s last two victories at Bristol have also included some interesting moments. Last fall, Hamlin, viewed by many as one of the more polarizing drivers in NASCAR, was booed by several fans as he celebrated a win that propelled him to the next round of the playoffs.
“Everybody likes a winner, right?” Hamlin responded in an on-track interview following the race. “I beat your favorite driver. All of them.”
"Hey. I beat your favorite driver… all of them."@dennyhamlin responds to the crowd after winning at @ItsBristolBaby. #NASCARPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/ybw6AaYeoU
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) September 17, 2023
This past spring, Hamlin had a strong showing in the Ford City 500 while leading 163 laps, a race that saw a Cup Series short-track record 54 lead changes and is also remembered for eating up the tires of many cars as rubber piled up on the outside edges of the track.
Denny Hamlin wins at Bristol! pic.twitter.com/rbyPIaUS31
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) March 17, 2024
The Bass Pro Shops Night Race on Saturday could also produce some similarly unique moments, but Hamlin remains focused on the task at hand: gaining enough points to reach the Round of 12.
“It’s certainly very, very doable and I think that somewhere in this fifth to 12th, someone’s going to have a real bad day,” Hamlin said on his podcast. “It always does, there’s always attrition in that Bristol night race.
“Qualifying will be important … Just run top five all stages, finish top five in the race, get a 47-point day or so, that’ll be plenty. But I’m planning on going there and winning.”
Ultimately, winning would leave zero doubt in anyone’s mind about where Hamlin is at as he tries to keep hopes of winning his first Cup Series championship alive.
“Going to Bristol, obviously Denny Hamlin is very good there,” Harvick said. “I think if you’re Hamlin, you can points your way in, but I think it would be a lot easier if you won your way in.”
After beginning the playoffs at a couple of tracks where some fluky things can occur at Atlanta and Watkins Glen, Hamlin believes he can make a run with what lies ahead for the rest of the postseason, beginning on Saturday.
“We’re going to a track where teams and drivers really, really matter,” Hamlin said. “I always said that if I can get through this round, then the playoffs really start … Let’s just get through this round, get through this adversity, give our fans something to cheer for.
“Minus six ain’t nothing … I love the fact that we get to go there on the offense. I’m going to be on offense the entire time.”